TRADE SHOW REVEALS GALVANIZED GUN CULTURE EAGER TO DEFEND ITS RIGHTS

LAS VEGAS 
Times are about to get very tough for hunters, recreational shooters and gun collectors in the wake of President Obama’s 23 executive orders to curb gun violence.

How Congress deals with Obama’s orders remains to be seen, but the gun industry’s vow to fight any more erosion of gun rights is very clear.

After spending time at the Shooting Hunting Outdoors Trade Show this week, where more than 60,000 gun industry members and 2,000 media gathered, I came away thinking this industry has been galvanized by Obama’s orders. The latest gun laws passed in New York and the threat of more in California and elsewhere, where states may make their own gun laws so long as they’re not softer than federal laws, have initiated action.

A walk around the 17½ miles of aisles of this Shooting Hunting Outdoors Trade Show portrayed a different kind of gun culture than has ever existed in the U.S. What became obvious to me after a few days around the industry is that the culture has changed dramatically. This isn’t your grandfather or even your father’s gun culture anymore.

There is a ton of pink present here — pink camouflage, pink gun cases, pink gun stocks, you name it — representing the amount of women in shooting and hunting. There are youth programs for shooting, hunting and habitat work being promoted on a national level, and their leaders all were here.

Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, was part of a group that delivered a feel-good message to the media Thursday about the fact that hunting and fishing participation is up in this country, to 37.5 million, or roughly equal to the population of California. U.S. sportsmen are spending more and more dollars than ever, $90 billion a year, or more than was spent on iPhones and iPads in 2011.

Crane links sportsmen to the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, a group of more than 300 senators and congressmen and women who represent nearly all 50 states. More importantly, they represent gun owners.

Crane knows the real political fight will be won in the halls of state capitals and in Washington, D.C.

“It’s clear that there are going to be a lot of efforts to do a lot of things legislatively, starting with the reinstatement on the assault weapon ban, magazine capacities and background checks, maybe even doing a registry for gun owners, things like that,” Crane said. “Unfortunately, those don’t get at the root of the problem. And while they may make people feel good that they’re doing something — and we all agree how tragic the situation is — I’m not sure that’s getting to the root of the problem.

“Unfortunately it’s going to cause problems,” Crane added. “There is going to be some divisiveness, and what will come out of all this I’m not exactly sure, but the NRA certainly will lead the charge. We’re going to be involved in this and make sure our Second Amendment rights aren’t infringed upon in the process.

“The threat is much more real at the state level. New York clearly demonstrated how aggressively they’re going after it. I’m afraid you’re going to see that in a lot of Atlantic seaboard, Northeast states, maybe California, maybe Illinois. There probably are 10 states that are at real risk in what they might do.

“As well-intending as these laws may be, they’re really going to penalize the law-abiding gun owner and the law-abiding citizen. Criminals don’t abide by this stuff anyway.

“The first thing you need to do is enforce the gun laws we have now and strictly enforce them and prosecute the people who are breaking them now. There are plenty of gun laws in the books already. Let’s go after and enforce what’s there.”